Jefferson City Public School boundary lines are changing following Tuesday’s approval by the Jefferson City School Board.
The biggest changes affect Jefferson City’s Thorpe Gordon Elementary and Cedar Hill Elementary.
Thorpe Gordon students will attend Lewis and Clark Middle School. Cedar Hill students will be split between Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
Thomas Jefferson students will matriculate to Capitol City High School, while Lewis and Clark students will attend Jefferson City High School.
JCPS Superintendent, Larry Linthacum, says the changes are expected to lower poverty levels and more evenly distribute students between schools.
“We will have twice as many people that can participate in art club and on the football team and hopefully class sizes and ect. All of that together will hopefully give all our students hope for a better tomorrow, that they will reach their potential and have a positive impact on our community moving forward,” Linthacum said.
Heather Feeler is the treasurer for the Parent Teacher Organization and has a son at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. She says district parents are mostly positive about the changes.
“I think there are a lot of people passionate about different areas about these boundary line options, especially when it comes to impacting your own child now and in the future," she said. But I think the school district has done a great job balancing that feedback and voting on a solid plan to move us forward into the future.”
The boundary changes go into effect next year for the 2019-2020 school year.